For example, in modern times, we generally calculate according to the number of people, and the surnames that rank in the forefront of the population in the country can be called "big surnames"; but in ancient times, whether they can be called "big surnames" often depends on whether the surname group has a long-term aristocratic status and whether there is enough social influence.
For example, when we mention "big surnames" today, the first thing that comes to mind must be Zhang, Wang, Zhao, Li, xie, etc., and it is precisely because the population of these surnames is too large that there is a saying of "Zhang San Li, Four Kings, Five Zhao Six". Not long after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, because the Cui surname was famous in the past, when the ministers compiled the "Clan Chronicle", they actually ranked the Cui surname first and suppressed the surname of Li Tangguo.
After Tang Taizong lost his temper, the ministers were frightened and quickly revised, and the final result was that the surname Li ranked first; while Tang Taizong's mother was from the Dou clan and his wife was from the Changsun clan, and the two surnames ranked second; the Cui surname reached the third class. This can be said to be a very classic event in Chinese history in which large-scale artificial regulation of the status of "big surnames" is held.
If you do not calculate according to social status, nor according to the number of people, only look at the degree of history and the degree of influence on the surnames in later generations, China actually has 8 very old and special surnames, which have been passed down for about 5,000 years, of which several surnames are still relatively common, see if there is your surname?
These 8 surnames are Ji, Jiang, 姒, 嬴, 妘, 妫, 姚, 姞. The surname Ji should be very familiar to us, the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty is surnamed Ji, such as The King of Zhou Wu Ji Fa; the Yellow Emperor in the ancient period was also surnamed Ji, because he grew up by the water of Ji. Moreover, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the royal families of many princely states belonged to the surname Of Ji.
The surname Ji is the true "ancestor of all surnames", and there are 414 surnames in "Hundred Family Names" that originate from the Surname Ji, and these surnames are differentiated into new surnames, which are more and more divided like cells. Surnames like Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang, Lu, Cao, and Wei can all be traced back to the ancient Ji surname, so wikipedias often see an entry for a surname "derived from the Ji surname".
The surname Jiang is also as old as the Ji surname, it is the surname of Emperor Yan, and it is also the surname of Jiang Ziya, a hero of the Zhou Dynasty, according to research, since Jiang Ziya was sealed by Zhou Tianzi to be the monarch of the State of Qi, the Surname of Jiang has bred a total of 102 surnames, including Lü, Xu, Xie, Qiu, Lu and other single surnames and Chunyu and other compound surnames, plus new surnames developed from the branches of the ancient period, this number will only be more.
As long as we know a little about the ancient Chinese history, or have seen some historical dramas related to the Qin Dynasty, we all know that the surname Of Ying is the national surname of the Qin State; and the Yao surname is still a common surname in modern society, it is not as remote as the four surnames of 姒, 妘, 妫, 妫.
Among them, the surname Yin is the "ancestor" of the current surnames of Qin, Zhong, Zhao, Xu, Jiang, Liang, Ma, Fei and other surnames; the Yao surname is the "ancestor" of the surnames of Chen, Tian, Hu and other surnames; the surname of Yao is the "ancestor" of the surnames of Liao, Zeng, Bao, Ouyang and other surnames; the surname of Concubine is the "ancestor" of the surnames of Dong, Peng, and Bald; the surname of Concubine is the "ancestor" of the surnames of Yuan, Lu, Che, and Xue; and the surname of Yao is the "ancestor" of the surnames of Ji, Kan, Yan, Yang, Kong, yin and other surnames.
In fact, each surname in China has its own historical source, but some have experienced various surname changes in the process of historical development, which makes those surnames that have been passed down from ancient times to the present particularly precious. Unfortunately, most of these 8 surnames are very unfamiliar to modern people, but this does not affect their unique status in the history of Chinese surnames.